How To Find A Lost Cell Phone

Need to know how to find a lost cell phone? Sometime in the middle of the day, maybe after you see someone else patting their pockets for their ringing phone, you suddenly think, "How long has it been since my phone rang?" So you pat your own pockets or fumble in your purse, and get that sick feeling. It's gone. Gone. All your phone numbers, the photo of your aunt nose to nose with a tiger cub in the mall, and your calendar notes. But don't panic. You may survive this, if you just know these important steps to finding a lost cell phone.

1. Call your cell phone. Walk around the house and call it. Ask someone to call it and go out to your car. If you hear it ringing, that's good news.  If someone unfamiliar answers your cell phone and asks how many dime bags you want, that's bad news. Kiss your SIM card goodbye, call the company to cut off the phone, and move on with your life.
   
2. Search the laundry. This is critical. If you didn't find your cell phone when you called it, and a questionable character didn't pick up, then your phone may be lost in a pocket, and this is a very dangerous situation. Rumor has it that if you take the battery out of your freshly laundered cell phone and put it in a bag of rice, the rice will suck out the moisture and your phone will be okay. This is a great piece of trivia to offer to others in a lost-cell-phone crisis, but it's not trivia you want to have to use yourself. So tip the laundry basket. Search every pocket, including the stinky jeans at the bottom of the pile. Save your cell phone from the spin cycle.
   
3. Hit the likely suspects. These include the floor of your car, or the pocket in the door of your car. Check discarded clothing that hasn't made it to laundry yet (like the jeans hanging over your door). Check your jacket pocket. Between the couch cushions. In your kid's bedroom, jacket pocket, bookbag or purse. Under papers on your desk. In your other purse, briefcase or bookbag.
4. Check the records. If none of these pan out, get online and check your phone records. When you see what numbers you called lately, that might refresh your memory. Backtrack to the last place you knew you were when you used it.
5. Go high-tech. Some new cell phones have locator chips. Most are only used for 911 calls, but depending on the phone you have you may be able to use the GPS feature to locate it. Check with your provider for more information.

If you have lost your cell phone, it doesn't have to be the end. Follow these steps telling you how to find a lost cell phone. If they don't work, don't lose faith. Sometimes cell phones turn up in the most unlikely of places. Sometimes they are still functional when you find them, and even if they aren't, you may be able to retrieve your phone numbers from the SIM card. And if the worst happens, and you simply never see it again, you can go on. Take the time you need to work through the pain, and then get a new phone—a better one, with more apps and features. And this time, consider going for the locator feature.